DO you remember the last time Warrington hosted a major music festival?

On Saturday and Sunday, the Neighbourhood Weekender will be held on the same site where the inaugural V Festival took place nearly 22 years ago.

Victoria Park hosted Britpop stars including Pulp and Supergrass in sweltering heat on Sunday, August 18 1996.

V Festival was the brainchild of Warrington's own Simon Moran, whose SJM Concerts promoted the event.

And SJM are again the force behind the Neighbourhood Weekender.

Event attendees will be hoping for weather conditions similar to the ones revellers enjoyed during the original V Fest, when temperatures hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Other acts included Gary Numan, Cast, the Super Furry Animals and Elastica.

And there was one artist who played at Victoria Park on that summer's day who will be returning this weekend.

Former Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, who featured as a member of Heavy Stereo back in 1996, will be headlining the Main Stage on Sunday night with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

While day tickets for this weekend's festival are priced at £55.45, entry 22 years ago was £25 - with many nearby residents given free passes for the day.

Around £800,000 was generated in ticket sales, while an estimated 24,000 burgers and 100,000 pints of lager were sold at the price of £2 each.

Thirty-five thousand people descended on the park for V Festival, while 20,000 are expected per day for the Neighbourhood Weekender.

Official car parking this weekend will set you back £11, while 9,000 vehicles paid £4 each to park at the site for V Festival as police predicted major disruption on the town's roads.

A special 16-page souvenir magazine called Park Life was also produced by the Warrington Guardian for the occasion.

Former Radio One DJ Janice Long and Brookside stars Rachel Lindsay and Tina Malone were among the celebrities pictured in the following week's paper.

Our report said: "Pick a scenic park, fill it with 35,000 people drinking 100,000 pints of lager and a hint of cannabis and turn up the heat."

A total of 400 people received medical treatment during the event, with 19 arrests made.

Three people attempted to gain entry to the festival by swimming across the Mersey, while police also dealt with reports of a man carrying a gun in the event arena.

The event hit the front page of the Warrington Guardian two days beforehand as it was revealed that only £21,000 of the £1m generated by V Festival would be going into Warrington Borough Council's coffers.

A council spokesman told the paper: "We'll only just cover our costs, but it is putting Warrington on the map."